Reversion of Hagia Sophia Into Mosque Is No Gain for Islam And Muslims And Takes Turkey on The Path to Extremism
By M. A. Siraj
12th
July2020
The reversion of Hagia Sophia to the Religious Affairs Directorate to be used as a mosque nearly 85 years after it was turned into a museum, signals a dangerous watershed in Turkey’s advance towards pan-Turkism.
Photo by the author
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Islam though may not be the
central axis of this revivalist movement; restoration of iconic cultural
symbols certainly finds a prominent place in the scheme of things of the
Erdogan Government and his AKP Party with roots in Islamist ideology is
pursuing.
Hagia Sophia/Wikimedia Commons
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Hagia
Sophia is the most potent symbol of Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, once
the epicentre of the Christian Byzantine Empire. Originally built between 532
and 537 AD on the orders of Byzantine emperor Justinian as a cathedral, it was
one of the roomiest of the spaces reserved for worship across the world. It was
turned into a mosque with the city falling to the invading forces of Sultan
Mehmet II in 1453 from when the city was rechristened Istanbul and became the
capital of Ottoman Empire.
Sultan
performed first Friday congregational prayers on June 1, 1453 after a niche was
added slightly reconfiguring the interior praying space towards Makkah. The
fresco images of Jesus and Mary and Byzantine emperors in the domes and walls
were covered with white plaster as Islamic prayers would not be valid in
presence of images. Turkey turned into a nation-state in 1923 under nationalist
revolutionary leader Mustafa Kemal Pasha who through a cabinet decision turned
the mosque into a museum in 1933.
The plaster
was removed from the images and the space was secularized. In its latest turn,
Hagia Sophia will revert to a mosque. President Erdogan has signed a decree to
revoke the 1933 decision to reclassify it into a museum. The decree follows
annulment of the 1933 conversion of the mosque into a museum.
Risky
Path
Correcting
history’s wrongs is a risky path that Turkey has chosen to tread. It is
long—almost a century—since Turkey emerged as the first nation-state among the
Muslim countries. Nationalist sentiments shaped its forward trajectory. Islam,
of course, took a backseat, but Muslim majority ensured that its ‘Muslimness’
would be the dominant cultural flavour. Having been backstabbed by the Arabs
(remember the Hejaz Railway built by Turks with German technical expertise was
destroyed by Arabs inspired by the British spy Lawrence of Arabia even while
the British were laying the railroads elsewhere in the colonies) the Turks took
drastic steps to unhinge themselves from backward and unreliable Arabs. Yes,
they went too far in introducing azan in Turkish. But adoption of Roman
alphabets helped them import technology and advanced ideas of democracy,
secularism, human rights, gender equality and nationalism from the West.
Thanks to
Ataturk’s reforms, Turkey is today modern in all senses of the word. Its
ship-building technology, textiles, construction companies and automotive
factories turn out world class products. Some of its universities figure among
the 200 best universities of the annual TLS ranking. The Gulf Arabs are still
dependent on extractive economy—the oil-wells being the mainstay—and are modern
only in the consumerist sense. They are still beholden to the global cop to
defend themselves against the onslaught of the tiny Israel. Religion, the opium
of the masses, is still the major ploy to keep the people in awe of the
otherwise discredited, oppressive, corrupt and corpulent sultans, emirs,
khalifas and the custodian of holy Harams.
Undo the
Prestige
But Erdogan
and his party are hell-bent upon undoing the prestige Turkey has gained during
the last one century by removing some of the grotesque maladies of history.
Hagia Sophia, having been turned into a museum, with plasters from those images
of Jesus and Mary removed, was one huge step towards its acceptance in the
civilized world. Even Spain was yet to emulate that example where the famous
Cordoba Mosque remains a Church. The four minarets still stood as reminders of
the change of status the edifice underwent. It was a happy blend of
Christian-Muslim influences.
Photos
by Author
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Turkey is
not short of mosques. After all, the huge and equally impressively domed Sultan
Ahmed Mosque sits just facing it with a public square loaded with tourists,
separating them. The Christendom was happy that Turkey was returning to it its
exquisite gift, by restoring its pristine character and format. No matter if
space was not utilized for prayers or sermons of the laity. But the museum was
not less than a halfway compensation for an architectural jewel lost. Great
many visitors from the surrounding Greek Orthodox nations have been making a
beeline to Istanbul, just to have a glimpse of the grandeur the Hagia Sophia
exuded.
Umar’s
Example
Turkey now
risks losing that cultural conduit by turning it into a place of worship
exclusively for Muslims again. Not to be missed is the point that after all,
Hagia Sophia was not originally built as a mosque. Its walls and ceilings still
speak of its Christian origin. Islam prohibits usurpation of others’ places of
worship. One is reminded of second caliph Hazrath Umar refusing to pray inside
the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem even when he was invited by the Governor
Sophronious to pray inside the holy shrine. He, as the conqueror of Jerusalem, could
have easily fallen victim to the temptation. But strong-minded that he was, he
refused. His plea was that he apprehended that future generations would wrest
the sepulchre from the Christians claiming it for Islam.
Photos
by Author/Sacrificing bonhomie
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Nations
today do not gain ascendancy among the comity of nation by supplanting crosses
by crescents or the vice versa. The
rules of the game have changed. Nations empower themselves with knowledge;
their economic worth; the scientific pool of talent; by high ranking on HDI;
good ratings of Amnesty and Transparency Internationals; the number of
visitors, pilgrims and students they attract year-round; the protection and
equality they offer to the women, disabled and the minorities. It will be a sad
day if modern Turkey looks for rising in the estimation of the world by
repeating the injustices of the past and ignoring the headway it gained during
this last one century.
It will be
no gain for Islam and Muslims, if the bonhomie and goodwill with a vast section
of humanity is sacrificed at the altar of a place of worship.
M.A.
Siraj is a senior journalist based in Bengaluru
Original
Headline: Turkey takes perilous path to extremism by turning Hagia Sophia into
mosque
Source: The Siasat English
URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/reversion-hagia-sophia-mosque-no/d/122404
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